‘Too old’ for the Olympics team

HE is the first Englishman to win the overall “high gun” on overseas territory at clay pigeon shooting’s European Down the Line Championships, but Wallsend’s Ian Mullarkey is resigned to the fact that at 39 he is too old to make it to the Olympics.

HE is the first Englishman to win the overall “high gun” on overseas territory at clay pigeon shooting’s European Down the Line Championships, but Wallsend’s Ian Mullarkey is resigned to the fact that at 39 he is too old to make it to the Olympics.

Mullarkey certainly has the talent, as demonstrated by a score of 595 out of 600 and three gold medals in Bordeaux. But with the authorities’ sights set firmly on 2012, he knows he has missed the boat when it comes to funding.

“With my work commitments and what it takes to compete in the Olympics you wouldn’t have a job,” he says. “But I’m just a smidgeon too old for funding in a lot of people’s eyes. Without funding it’s not really an option unless I win the lottery or the pools!

“You tend to reach your peak in your late 30s or early 40s and they’re looking for people to be medal-winners in 2012. Having said that, there’s people out there shooting in their 60s. You’re just holding a gun for the day so it doesn’t need much by way of physical fitness.”

As it is, Mullarkey has to rely on sponsors Krieghoff Shotguns and Express Cartridges and the generosity of his bosses to compete.

“In the summer there’s a bit more scope for shooting so I tend to do a shoot on a Wednesday evening, sometimes a Thursday and if I’m not competing at the weekend I’ll practice on Saturday too,” he says. “I probably put in 12-15 hours a week in all. If it wasn’t for the sponsorship I get it would be much harder.

“I’m fortunate I have very considerate employers in Manners Catering Butchers, where I’m a sales manager. They give me a lot of time off so I can compete. I normally take Thursday and Friday off but my shooting is predominantly in Britain.

“Thanks to Krieghoff, I went to Germany and had a gun custom-made, which is obviously a big help. The better your gun, the better your chances.”

Mullarkey claimed golds at the five-man team event, and was the top senior and leading competitor overall, an unusual feat for an Englishman abroad.

“Normally an Englishman wins it in England and a Frenchman in France,” he says of the Championships, which alternate between England and France. Mullarkey claimed a gold, silver and bronze on his debut in 2005 but nothing on home soil last year.

Down the Line, the discipline Mullarkey competes in, is not an Olympic event but he thinks it suits his talents better than the skeet, which is.

“Down the Line is more of a random target, whereas the Olympic disciplines are much fairer,” he explains. “If you get lucky in Down the Line it could all be left-handed shots, for example. On another day you could get all bad birds. I shot skeet until 1999 (representing England along the way) but could never really get to the top.

“It’s more about concentration in Down the Line and that suits me.

“All the top young Down the Line competitors tend to be poached at an early age by the Olympic set-up.

“They’re all picked off fairly early, which is something we accept in Down the Line. At the end of the day everyone would like a bit of glory.”